Back Warm Ups and Who Am I?

Today I had a great workout and integrated many TRX suspension training exercises. My focus was upper back and core strength. My back has been a little sore as I only got in one workout last week and Ava has gained weight again-yes this means lugging around a few more pounds. Here are a few warm up exercises for you back before you begin your exercise routine.



Many mothers ask about back pain and how they can manage it. This video provides some helpful tips, addressing the main soft tissue issues that contribute to back pain.

After a weekend of visiting some mom friends it's back to work. Much needed venting, a walk and a few drinks and laughs can clear the air and make you feel appreciated again. The reality is one of my friends that I played University Volleyball with came to visit. She has 3 of her own children now, the date for a visit was set 2 months previous. We caught up and I cannot beleive she actually bought Bud Light Lime- it resembles dish soap flavour- she used to be a Sleeman rep-what happened? She and I admitted it is easy to lose yourself,who you are, once you become a mother (and this was reflected in her beer choice). I assured her and myself we are the same people we were before children, before careers, you are your passion and your values. This for me has held strong and true from the time I was a teen to now, I love sports and volleyball and I am honest. This I know, I will continue my identity based on this. Have you ever asked yourself lately WHO AM I? You are not alone. I am sure every mom has asked herself this.

A few other key points were brought up that night. She indicated she does not workout at all now, even though she does have 20-30 minutes a day, she just feels lazy. I think she was looking for something inspirational or insightful, but not from me. I said I think you do not feel pushed yet, for the most part you look good and although you may feel 10 lb overweight I cannot tell. You have to look at this from a different perspective, such as health, muscular discomfort relief , quality and longevity of life- not just looks. This may be you, you may be 10 lb overweight and you may feel content with this, no one else can tell. Well in all honesty no one else cares if your 10 lb overweight, but you should, if you don't care who will. Set your own boundaries, goals and limits, this may help take you to new places.

I had a great gym workout today in true Busy Mom20 minute fashion. Dynamic warmup, I used the barbell for a combination of cleans, push presses, bent over rows and dead lifts in succession to get my heart rate up. I then did dumbbell hand cleans and finished with a burpie pull-up countdown from 5 to 1- 5, rest 4 rest 3 ect. All of these moves can be performed with dumbbells or kettle bells from home.

Lose Fat, Get Stronger

So how do you lose excess body fat from pregnancy? Get Stronger. That's right you need resistance to lose fat . Why is this- well because of EPOC or Oxygen debt. Whatever fancy word you use it works. When you perform resistance training you will build muscle tissue which has a higher metabolic rate at rest than any other tissue in the body. When you perform anaerobic resistance training (push yourself to your heart rate limit) you are using so much oxygen that you heart rate and respiration will stay slightly elevated after you workout which again is the same as a higher resting metabolic rate. You will burn more calories in the long run from performing resistance training for these 2 reason. If you perform cardio and the machine says you have burned 200 calories in 30 minutes- great but that's it, nothing else. If you perform 20 minutes of resistance training and burn 150 calories- you will likely burn another 200 calories or more throughout the day due the effects of that resisitance workout. That just makes sense- workout less and burn more calories. Simple workout plans yielding real results- get over your cardio plateau. Baby Bump Busy Mom Fitness.

Kettle Bell Challenge for Mom

Yes today was a day for kettle bell circuits in my training schedule. I love them, portable, quick, efficient. I get a great total body, fat burning workout with one piece of equipment. They originated in Russia and have been adopted by the mixed martial arts community. They are fast becoming mainstream because of the results they yield. I was first introduced to kettle bells a few months after the birth of my first daughter, and started taking lessons a few months after that. I have been using them ever since, not solely but as part of my busy mom fitness schedule. Check out this video for a demonstration. You can try these moves with a dumbbell.



I find learning a new tool takes your mindset off exercising solely to lose fat, but learning leads to performance. This is a new skill that is fun, efficient and make you feel energized. The second benefit is you will shed pounds while you are at it.

Weekend Challenge- perform this kettle bell circuit shown in the video with a kettle bell or a dumbbell. Just get used to these new moves. Post in your comments after you are done for a GREAT BABY BUMP PRIZE. Remeber the last prize was from Prograde Nutrition.

Strengthen Your Posture Workout

For 3 great workout check out the bottom of last days post. I have another one, not quite as intense, but effective for posture.

Busy Mom Workout- 3 sets of external shoulder rotations, shoulder press wall slides, arm swings and legs swings, foam rolling and my workout begins. This is a strength workout so movements should be slow, heavy and deliberate.

Superset 1for strength in posture- modified pullups 12x with bentover self stabilizing kettle bell rows- 2 x thru this superset.

Superset 2- kettle bell full front squat with kettlebell reverse lunge (load in the front leg for extra stability work) 2 x thru this superset.

Scapular protraction/retraction from plank position and some round the world kettlebell passes for my anti-rotational abdominal muscle training. Then I cut the lawn.



I would like to announce the winner of the Workout Challenge posted 2 weeks ago. Laura Wills will be receiving a container of Prograde Recovery, a great recovery solution from tough workouts. This is a brutal, yet simple workout consisting of all burpees and pullups.

MOMS BACK YARD FAT LOSS video

I just had to share this simple,yet effective workout that I performed in my backyard. My baby was asleep in her stroller so I grabbed some equipment and did a quick mom fat loss workout out on my back deck.


The key to this workout is supersets. I take no more than 1 minute rest between supersets and complete 4 in total. By the end of this I have performed around 80 lifts in 6 minutes (3-4 of that being rest). I finish with a total body explosive exercise, turned into muscular endurance set of 100 reps. So in total I have performed 180 total body lift exercises in approximately 10minutes. I would say that is pretty good odds for a time to work intensity ratio. You will definitely get an after burn fat loss effect from this busy mom fat loss workout. To get a copy of you free 4 week program with fat burning workouts like this one sing up below.